AN: Hey, everyone! New story! I hope you like it :)

Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT or it's characters (though if I did, Swan Queen and Red Beauty would be a thing).

12:16 p.m.

It wasn't as if Ruby had been checking the clock all day. She totally hadn't. It's not like she was waiting for a certain librarian to merrily waltz into the diner.

Except for the fact that she totally was.

Belle entered the diner each afternoon at precisely 12:15, and Ruby would be lying if she said that she wasn't a little bit concerned that the lovely brunette wasn't there yet, because she was.

Ruby sighed and walked into the kitchen to get the food for the people at one of the tables. As she set the plates down, she heard bell on the door jingle, and low and behold, in came Belle, looking brighter than Ruby had ever seen her. Ruby almost knocked on of the plates off as she glanced at the clock.

12:18 p.m.

She muttered an apology to the customers, who were casting weird looks her way, and walked back behind the counter. She tried not to say anything about Belle not coming in at her usual time, she really did, but as soon as the shorter girl reached the counter-

"You're late."

Belle cast her a curious glance. "What do you-" the smaller girl looked at the clock and then back at the waitress. "You pay attention to the exact time I enter."

Ruby tried to hide her blush.

She failed.

"I- um, I just, like, look at the clock every time the, uh, the bell jingles. It's a habit, you know?"

Belle smiled at her and chuckled lightly. "You really are a mystery, Ruby Lucas."

They stood in an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds, and then Ruby said, without thinking, ''Do you want the usual?"

Belle raised an eyebrow. "You know what I order, too?"

Ruby couldn't take it. She was a mess today. "You know, I think one of the cooks just called me. I'll be right back," she mumbled nervously.

Belle looked confused as she sped off.

Four short minutes later, Ruby came back out and found Belle sitting patiently in a booth. Ruby swallowed and prepared herself. "Sorry about that," she said easily as she walked up to Belle. "So, what would you like?"

"An iced tea and a turkey sandwich, please, but you already knew that, didn't you?"

Ruby smiled. "You get the same thing every single time. How am I not supposed to remember?"

Belle laughed. Ruby laughed. There, communication wasn't so hard, was it?

"Do you want it to go, or for here?"

"Well, considering I'm sitting in a booth, I would say that I'm probably going to eat here," Belle stated sarcastically.

"Alright," Ruby grinned as she walked away.

Phew, she thought.

AN: That's it for now! I'm currently out of school, so I'm hoping to get chapters in fairly quickly. I hope you enjoyed it, and please leave a review!